Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales

The first collection of stories Stephen King has published since Nightmares & Dreamscapes nine years ago, Everything's Eventual includes one O. Henry Prize winner, two other award winners, four stories published by The New Yorker, and "Riding the Bullet", King's original e-book, which attracted over half a million online readers and became the most famous short story of the decade. Intense, eerie, and instantly compelling, they announce the stunningly fertile imagination of perhaps the greatest storyteller of our time.

Full Dark, No Stars

"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger...." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922", the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.

The master at his scarifying best! From heart-pounding terror to the eeriest of whimsy - tales from the outer limits of one of the greatest imaginations of our time! Trucks that punish and beautiful teen demons who seduce a young man to massacre; curses whose malevolence grows through the years; obscene presences and angels of grace - here, indeed, is a night-blooming bouquet of chills and thrills.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories

A master storyteller at his best - the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story. Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant fan. "I made them especially for you," says King. "Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth."

Four Past Midnight

Four chiller novellas set to keep listeners awake long after bedtime. One Past Midnight: "The Langoliers" takes a red-eye flight from LA to Boston into a most unfriendly sky. Only 11 passengers survive, but landing in an eerily empty world makes them wish they hadn't. Something's waiting for them, you see.

Different Seasons

Four gripping novellas tied together by the changing of seasons. Hope Springs Eternal - "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption": An unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge...the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award nominee The Shawshank Redemption.

Graveyard Shift and Other Stories From Night Shift

Consummate master of his craft, Stephen King has kept millions awake past midnight shivering at tales that probe the shadows and reveal the dark side. Now listeners can chill to this second dramatic unabridged production of short stories from his best selling book, Night Shift. It brings Stephen King's demonic stories fully to life - and the terror even closer to home.

Sleeping Beauties: A Novel

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep: They become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place.... The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease.

Lisey's Story

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a 25-year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, best-selling novelist, and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and "bools". Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went, a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive, or give him the ideas he needed in order to live.

From a Buick 8

Stephen King's first full-length solo novel since Dreamcatcher, the long-awaited From a Buick 8 is "nearly flawless and one terrific entertainment," says Publishers Weekly. A strange car acts as a conduit between our world and some other...and the boogeyman of this creepy story is our collective fascination with deadly things.

Gwendy's Button Box: Includes Bonus Story "The Music Room"

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974, 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zigzag up the cliffside. At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. One day a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."

Jim &#34;The Impatient&#34; says:"THE PEOPLE SEE A LEVER, THEY WANT TO PULL IT"

Duma Key: A Novel

A terrible accident takes Edgar Freemantle's right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. When his marriage suddenly ends, Edgar begins to wish he hadn't survived his injuries. He wants out. His psychologist suggests a new life distant from the Twin Cities, along with something else.

Gray Matter and Other Stories From Night Shift

Listeners can chill to this dramatic unabridged production of 6 short stories from the consummate master of horror, Stephen King. Culled from his best-selling book Night Shift, it brings the demonic stories fully to life - and the terror even closer to home.

The Regulators

Peaceful suburbia on Poplar Street in Wentworth, Ohio, takes a turn for the ugly when four vans containing armed "regulators" terrorize the street's residents, cold-bloodedly killing anyone foolish enough to step outside their homes. Houses mysteriously transform into log cabins, and the street now ends in what looks like a child's hand-drawn Western landscape. Masterminding this sudden onslaught is the evil creature Tak, who has taken over the body of an autistic eight-year-old boy, Seth Garin.

The Lawnmower Man and Other Stories From Night Shift

Playing upon our most primal fears, Stephen King draws us into his sinister world - a place where sane men and women see their lives shattered, their realities distorted and destroyed. Now, listeners can probe even deeper into the mind of the master storyteller of the macabre, with this third unabridged production of 5 classic short stories, from King's best selling collection, Night Shift.

Rose Madder

Rosie Daniels leaves her husband, Norman, after 14 years in an abusive marriage. She is determined to lose herself in a place where he won't find her. She'll worry about all the rest later. Alone in a strange city, she begins to make a new life, and good things finally start to happen. Meeting Bill is one, and getting an apartment is another. Still, it's hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason. Norman is a cop, with the instincts of a predator.

The Dark Half

Thad Beaumont would like to say he is innocent. He'd like to say he has nothing to do with the twisted imagination that produced his best-selling novels. He'd like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home. But how can Thad deny the ultimate embodiment of evil that goes by the name he gave it - and signs its crimes with Thad's bloody fingerprints?

Hearts in Atlantis

All the stories in this collection from Stephen King are related to the Vietnam War. King fans will recognize echoes of The Dark Tower series in the collection's first story, "Low Men in Yellow Coats." As the characters develop over the next four stories, King's version of the Vietnam War becomes one of his most frightening tales ever.

Blaze: A Novel

Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions. Blaze has been a slow thinker since childhood, when his father threw him down the stairs and then threw him down again. After escaping an abusive institution for boys when he was a teenager, Blaze hooks up with George, a seasoned criminal who thinks he has all the answers.

Bag of Bones

Even four years after the sudden death of his wife, best selling novelist Mike Noonan can't stop grieving, nor can he return to his writing. He moves into his isolated house by the lake, which becomes the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here - and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

The Dead Zone

Johnny Smith awakens from a five-year coma after his car accident and discovers that he can see people's futures and pasts when he touches them. Many consider his talent a gift; Johnny feels cursed. His fiancée married another man during his coma, and people clamor for him to solve their problems. When Johnny has a disturbing vision after he shakes the hand of an ambitious and amoral politician, he must decide if he should take drastic action to change the future.

Desperation

Located off a desolate stretch of Interstate 50, Desperation, Nevada, has few connections with the rest of the world. It is a place, though, where the seams between worlds are thin. And it is a place where several travelers are abducted by Collie Entragian, the maniacal police officer of Desperation. Entragian uses various ploys for the abductions, from an arrest for drug possession to "rescuing" a family from a nonexistent gunman.

Joyland

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever. Joyland is a brand-new novel and has never previously been published.

Publisher's Summary

Stephen King - who has written more than 50 books, dozens of number-one New York Times best sellers, and many unforgettable movies - delivers an astonishing collection of short stories. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey.

Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark.

In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand.

For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.", which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset - call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

Listening to audio books, like viewing art, is a subjective exercise. I was amazed at the negative reviews. This was classic King -- showing his expertise as one of America's finest WRITERS, without being pigeonholed into the genre of horror.

As other reviews noted, "N" is worth the price of the download. Incredible story, and the multiple readers make it sing.

My favorite story was "The Things They Left Behind," which entertained me through three listens over a two-week span.

I enjoyed "The Gingerbread Girl," but thought Mare Winningham's read was bored and uninspired. Ms. Winningham is a fine actor, but sounded barely interested in this story.

King's read of "Harvey's Dream" showed that his reading skills have improved... and that particular story is short but excellent.

Bottom line -- if you are familiar with King's work and enjoy it, you will truly love this download.

I'm not a SK reader, but was intrigued by the short story premise and was not disappointed. Some were better than others, as is usual in a collection, but makes it easy to move on if you don't like one. Particularly enjoyed Things They Left Behind, Cat from Hell, Reststop, and the last one is not to be missed. The different readers provide variety and help separate the stories. If you want the usual SK, don't get this...if you want something different, give it a try. This is very long, so don't expect a quick listen. It is more a journey than a destination.

Most of the short stories in this collection are actually pretty long (not that that's a bad thing!) but they are all consistantly well-written and performed. It's hard to pick out favorites, but N, The Stationary Bike, and A Very Tight Place are standouts. Who but King would have his protagonist experience a re-birth by having to crawl out of the bottom of a filthy Port-o-san? The stories are more along the creepy side, usually not going into pure horror (with the exception of The Cat From Hell) and are therefore more believable and disturbing. Highly recommended!

Great fun. Good stories; reminded me that I used to like short stories and has me looking for more. The last story is disgusting in a (very) true "potty" sense, but the others are excellent entertainment. SK's comments afterwards on his inspirations for the stories and on writing are great, too.

This is collection could best be described as mediocrity punctuated by moments of complete brilliance.

I'd argue with the "Stephen King hasn't used the horror genre since the 80s" review; it's simply not true, and there are some pretty scary moments in this collection. Though you'd be right not to expect a horror fest; this collection is eclectic.

While even the least of King's stories are worth the time to read, I found some of these - such as Gingerbread Girl - to be generally underwhelming.

Others, however, such as "N," are some of his best short-story work. Seriously, the jacket price is worth it for "N" alone.

A good collection of stories of everyday life, but naturally, with a macabre bent. Stephen King knows how to take middle class/upper-middle class problems - almost boring by definition - and give them the twist that will fill you with unease. Things are not what the seem. None of the stories were gory, but all of them messed with your mind. The sheer volume of blood spilled in horror stories usually keeps me away, but this one wasn't so bad. The stories all had a long buildups, but mostly, I was only aware of the mounting tension, and of an intense desire to know the outcome.

I really enjoyed this book. I found two stories to be lame, but over all, it was great. I really enjoyed the last story. It was very detailed, it was so detailed, that it grossed out my husband who can stomach anything.
If you like King, you will enjoy this book. I a going to buy the book version, its worth reading.

These stories are more like King's olders stories, which I definitely prefer. First narrator isn't that great, but the others are wonderful...especially Mare reading The Gingerbread Girl. Oh, beware, I downloaded The Gingerbread Girl and Stationary Bike way before this new book came out...so if you've already heard those and don't want to listen again, you'll have to fast forward-not an easy feat on an ipod! But Gingerbread Girl was sooo worth listening to for a second time!

Stephen King's edgy short story collection entices the listener into a complex and vivid world of ordinary people who experience extraordinary events. The reader quickly becomes immersed in quirky tales that examine human nature and interactions. King moves beyond the misguided concept that he writes horror stories--a genre that he has not used since the 1980s. People who dismiss this talented writer as a simply a purveyor of horror stories miss the opportunity to experience King's masterful ability to use the English language artfully. Pick up this collection and enjoy a literary journey.